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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

I'm so late on linking up my June reading to The Bibliophile Files@sarah did it! that the link is actually closed but I'm going to post this anyway since I've already written it and will link up June and July next month.

According to Goodreads.com I'm still on pace to meet my 2014 Reading Challenge Goal of 130 books.

4 of the 9 books I read in June were from the Vince Flynn series about the adventures of Super CIA Agent Mitch Rapp. He is one Bad-A$$ Dude I am telling you! Yesterday I loaded the last 3 books in the series onto my iPhone so as soon as I finish my current audio book I'll be back to walking along to Mitch's latest assignments. They are great books to get me out the door so I can find out what trouble he is going to get into next.

The only 4 star read on my list was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows which was on my To Be Read Shelf. I tried to listen to the audio book last winter but had to abandon it as the book is written in a series of letters and it was far too confusing to try to follow who was writing to who. It is set shortly after WWII in England and I thought it was a charming read about a serious time in history.

I might note that I'm a tough rater of books. The vast majority of my reads fall into 3 star which for me means I liked the book and would recommend it to others who like the genre. 4 star means I really liked the book and feel that most readers would enjoy it too. 5 star means I LOVED the book, can't stop thinking about it and will tell everyone I know about it!

At the opposite end of the spectrum 1 star means I either didn't like the book enough to finish it or I muddled through it only to be very disappointed by the ending and felt it was a complete waste of time. 2 star books mostly fall into the bad plot twist/insipid main character(s)/horrible or implausible ending type of read where I liked most of the book. Or the occasional "off-book" by one of my favorite authors.

My rating stats for June were one 4 star, six 3 stars, one 2 star and one 1 star. Not bad.

The above photo was taken recently as storm clouds were moving in. We are lucky to face west on our lake and we enjoy some spectacular sunsets. This time of year the sun sets close to the channel to the next lake on our chain and it doesn't get completely dark until almost 10 PM. Oh the lovely long days of summer in Northern Minnesota!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Given my lack of sewing lately this list might seem a bit on the optimistic side... but I am pretty certain that once we have returned from delivering our son to college in Rochester, NY in August I will be finding my quilting room to be a haven of comfort.

I'm putting some "golden oldies" back on the list but am also digging deep into my UFO Collection to pull out some new UFOs to the blog for a total of 7 UFOs to focus on this quarter.

1. Finish Memory Garden. This flimsy is from the book "Patchwork Showcase" by Nancy Mahoney and is one of the newbies. I plan to use it as a wall hanging in our entry way this fall.

2. Finish Warm 16 Patches. This flimsy began from a collection of 2.5" strips from an online swap group that I assembled into 16 patches and added the alternating hourglass blocks to. I love the color palette of this top.

3. Finish Scrappy Strip Stacks. This flimsy was made using the pattern "Strip Stacks" from G.E. Designs and is ready to baste together, quilt and bind.

4. Finish Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown. Another "Strip Stacks" set of blocks that need to be finished up within the next month so the finished quilt can travel with our son to college.

5. Finish Path and Stiles in Thimbleberries. These blocks are from one of the Nickel Quilt books by Pat Speth. Some of the 9 patches and rail fence sections originated from a Yahoo! Groups online block swap 6-8 years ago. The blocks are partially assembled and I plan to send this lap sized quilt out to be professionally quilted.

6. Finish Blue & Yellow Strings. I had these blocks on my design wall for a time and I can't remember why they got put away once again. They will be made into a keeper cuddle quilt for our master bedroom.

7. Finish Autumn Ridge. I would LOVE to have this quilt on display in our family room in time for fall. I believe that the blocks are about 2/3's done and the rest of the strips are cut and ready to sew together. This newbie UFO is from the Black Mountain Quilts book "Days to Remember". Instead of purple I have subbed in black/brown fabrics to match our decor.

I think this mix of UFOs will be enough to keep me busy this quarter and set me up for a VERY productive Q4 to close out 2014. We might be talking 1 UFO Finish a week again like I did in 2013!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Now that I've received my first "You haven't been blogging - is everything OK" series of emails (thank you ladies for caring enough to check in with me!) I decided I'd better find a quiet moment and do some writing.

My life outside of quilting is FULL right now. So much has happened and more is on the horizon... and for a person who has lost the art of multi-tasking this means I am scattered all over the place. But, just for this summer, I am trying hard to embrace this uncomfortable feeling. Why? Because by mid August life will suddenly shift back to a new normal.

image from http://blogs.aaslh.org/what-is-change-at-your-historic-site/

Over the last 4 weeks our daughter got engaged, my husband and I spent a week in Vegas with 3 other couples, I had a nasty skin infection on my foot that was treated 5 times by 4 doctors in 2 cities, we hosted our future in-laws over the 4th and summer sort of arrived. Our son started his first job and we have had lots of college related tasks on our agenda. Eye, dental and medical checkups for everyone. Plus normal life!

In early August our daughter and her fiance are moving to Columbus, OH where he will be attending grad school in hospital administration at Ohio State and she will be going to nursing school. A week after I return from helping them move we will be loading up a vehicle to take our son to Rochester, NY where he still start college at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology).

Since I've been spoiled by having my kids at home or 2 hours away with lots of visits this is going to be very new and different. And while I am over the moon excited about seeing them challenge themselves with new opportunities and proud to bursting of who they are becoming my eyes are getting a bit wet as I write this post. It feels very real right now.

image from http://bobchoat.com/2014/03/01/

So... I WILL be getting back to quilting all too soon because we all know that creative therapy works wonders in times of change. And I do hope to get back in the habit of blogging and will try to share more about my non quilting life. And since I can't have a post without a picture I'll leave you with a pic of Elsa in her favorite daytime napping spot. Yes, she has her own quilt!

I will also thank you in advance for your support as I will need it. Shall we say that the UFO Countdown will be on the move again this fall? I think so.